Monday Weigh-In & Staying Motivated

Hi all! So it's time for the Monday weigh-in...


Monday Weigh-In
Last Week: 136.2
This Week: 138.0
Pounds Lost: -1.8 (first time it's a gain, eek!)
Total Lost: 32 pounds (still awesome, right?)


So obviously this week was a major disappointment, especially since I was so hopeful that more weight would come off once I got back to normal schedule. I ramped up my exercise a lot and stuck to my eating plan during the week, so I was really disappointed when I didn't see any weight come off through the week. I guess I am officially at a plateau. I did splurge Friday and Saturday night as far as calories go, which I pretty much NEVER do, but I guess I was rebelling since I was frustrated. So today's weigh in is probably a little high because of that, but in general, I've been right around 137lbs for about 5 weeks now.

This has definitely been testing my motivation. For the past 4 months, I've been kept motivated by the fact that it was working! So now I have to keep reminding myself that eating low-cal, exercising, etc. is the right thing to do even if I am not seeing the immediate results. Another thing that keeps me motivated is my nerdy spreadsheet haha. But really, it does, because it reminds me that it is not possible for me to be eating 1200 cal/day and burning 300 cal/day exercising and not losing weight. That would mean my metabolism is only naturally burning ~900 cal/day which is wayyyy too low. So I just keep reminding myself that it should all add up soon, and hopefully the weight will come off.

And the results I've seen so far can still be motivation - I feel great and look so much better than when I started. I had told myself I'd go on a shopping spree once I hit 130 pounds, but since I have a training class all next week that will require business clothes, and then of course the cruise, I've started shopping anyway! This weekend I was able to buy size 6 dress pants! I don't remember the last time I was a 6, but it was probably in high school. So it is a great reminder or how far I have come!! At work, we wear uniforms, but for the past several weeks I've been wearing the pants I got when I first moved here in 2008 and had never been able to wear because they ended up being too small after I ordered them. So all of that helps me keep it in perspective.

Well I hope this post doesn't sound like too much of a complaint! I was definitely feeling down last week, and I was considering taking a break and going only into weight maintenance mode and trying again sometime later to lose the rest. But I'm feeling more positive today and hopefully I can stay motivated. There are lots of other contributors too... I've been doing more strength training, so I'm probably building more muscle. And I started a new medicine last week that probably made me retain more fluids... etc. etc. Not every week can be perfect. So I'm not going to get too stressed out until it persists for a while longer with no weight loss. At least that's what I'll tell myself!

This week should be pretty normal, but the next two weeks will be crazy with my training class and then the cruise. So although I'll keep trying to lose weight, I honestly will be happy if I can just maintain my weight during that time. The training class is all day, with meals provided, and homework each night until 10pm... so not too much time to manage my food or to exercise! My new goal is to bust through this plateau, and these two weeks away, and hit 130 pounds by the end of June - 40 pounds in 6 months won't be too shabby!!

Goals Update: One Month In!

Alright, so now that April is over, I figured it is time to check in on the resolutions I set for this quarter back in this post, so here it goes:


1) Reach Goal Weight of 130lbs by May 12 -  Updated on this yesterday, but it looks like there is no way I'll meet the May 12th goal. But hopefully should be there before the cruise!

2) Learn to Love the Treadmill & Run 3 miles at a 9 min pace - Good progress so far - I've used the treadmill three times in the past week with success - even did 7 miles on Sunday! Before I really didn't enjoy running on the treadmill and I blamed it for some knee/leg pain I had been having. But after several weeks of not doing too much running, I've been feeling great on the treadmill. Hopefully it stays that way - I've been saving up TV show episodes to keep me entertained while I run, so that helps. Next step is to try to pick up the pace.... I'm still running 10 min miles at this point.

3) Floss & Take a Vitamin Daily - I did awesome with this for the first few weeks and then kind of fell of the wagon - but back on it now!! So far, I've earned $70 in my made-up rewards system, which keeps me motivated. The only flaw in the system is that since I reward myself after 5 consecutive days and then start over, there's a lot less motivation on Day 1. So if I'm feeling lazy I might skip the flossing and start the next day. Day 5 is super motivating because I don't want those other days to go to waste though, so I guess it balances out. Those of you who floss religiously probably think I'm nuts, but to each their own I guess :)

4) Keep the Car Clean -  This is the goal I was referring to yesterday that I have literally failed at so far. My car is embarrassingly messy right now, inside and out. And I even have a 50% off coupon to get it washed and vacuumed. Totally taking care of that this week/weekend (of course, that's also what I said last weekend....). But I'm optimistic that once I get it cleaned up, I'll be motivated to maintain it a bit more. I guess we'll see!

5) Buy a Paint Sprayer & Test it Out-  So I haven't started researching this one yet, but I always kind of intended it to be a June activity. So I won't kick myself to hard over not even thinking about this one yet - there's still time!

How are you guys doing on your goals? I definitely helps to put them on paper and share them with someone - I feel accountable to have some progress to share on the blog!

Shout-Out

Also, I should take the time to mention how awesome my sister is. Check out her prom dress from this past weekend - she made it herself after collecting starburst wrappers for like two years. So creative and I love it! She even handmade the corsage and boutonniere - so much attention to detail!

I hope you don't mind that I totally just blogged you without your permission, Twister :)

Monday Weigh-In

Hi all! I'm back!! I didn't really intend to completely stop blogging for the last few weeks, but what can I say, other priorities took over I guess. Like I mentioned before, for the last 3 weeks I've been working a 6AM-7PM shift. Which some days meant 6AM-8PM. And then another half hour to get home, so yeah, its been busy. Luckily I only had to work one weekend in that time (I originally expected to work both), and I finished up last Friday. Everything went really well at work, so other than the long hours, it wasn't too bad.


Which brings me to the weight-loss update. Totally changing up my schedule did not do me any favors in this department:

Monday Weight In

Last Weigh-In (Apr 16): 138.2

Today's Weigh-in: 136.2

Pounds Lost: 2.0 (in 3 weeks - booooo)

Total Lost: 33.8 (yay!)

I am definitely disappointed that I won't meet by May 12 goal (this weekend!) but I am still optimistic that I can hit my goal weight by the cruise (May 27). And to be honest, I know I will get there soon enough. 

Mostly I am really just proud of myself that I stuck to my eating plan for the whole three weeks. Even though we had lunch provided every day, I brought my lunch and ate what I brought. I still ate a healthy breakfast every day even though I was getting up 1.5 hours earlier, and we were able to keep up with low-cal dinners, mostly thanks to Sam being willing to cook a little more than usual! There were a few days where I ate 1300-1400 calories - mostly because I was so hungry from being on my feet and outside at work all day, but in general I stuck to 1200 calories a day.

My exercise definitely suffered, especially in the second week, but I've fit it in whenever I've had time (hence no blog posts on that unexpected weekend I had off - I needed to exercise, plan my meals and clean the house!) and I'm definitely back on track now. In fact, started doing a workout video - Jillian Michael's 30-day Shred - about a week and a half ago, and I'm planning to do it every day until the cruise. We biked 30 miles Saturday and I ran 7 yesterday, and it is feeling good to be back on track!

So I say all of this mostly to remind myself that even though the weight-loss results were apparently really thrown off by my crazy schedule, I have already made lasting lifestyle changes (enjoying running? weird) and I did my part in sticking to the plan. But here's to still hoping the rest of the weight comes off sooner rather than later!

And one last note, I seriously have nothing to wear. And it's awesome. It's incredibly rewarding and motivating to realize I physically can't wear most of those clothes anymore. And I can't wait to treat myself to a little shopping spree before the cruise. Who wants to come free clothes shopping through all my old stuff to help clear some space?

Lots of other miscellaneous things have been going on... I'll be back in full force this week with updates, including where I am at with those 2Q goals - anyone want to guess which one has been a complete failure so far?